Set out for a mellow day to take in the sights. From 4600-5400 feet we noted blowing snow at ridge tops and cornices development was prevelent above 6,000 feet. Cross loaded south facing test slopes were reactive to skis and became our main concern for the day as we were planning to not venture onto slopes harboring persistent slab. We dug at 7,000 feet on a SE facing slope where a total snowpack depth was determined to be 295cm deep (obviously wind affected). We dug 100 cm deep and had nonpropogating results ECTN12 30cm deep, ECTN18 45cm deep, ECTN22 at 70cm deep on melt freeze crusts. We found isolated pockets 4-8 inches deep of drifted snow under 30 degrees to ride between sections of mostly supportable crusts. The dry snow that fell last night started to dampen beneath 5500 feet and we observed small roller balls initiating from ski turns.
SW Ridge following sections of summer trail on Elk Mountain.
